Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center presents:
Dr. Trevon D. Logan, Associate Professor of Economics
The Long-Term Consequences of Distinctively Black Names:Evidence from the American Past
Racialized given names have been linked to a range of negative outcomes in contemporary America. There is no work, however, exploring historical naming patterns by race. We document the existence of a national naming pattern for African American males in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The pattern is similar to racial naming patterns today but uses different first names in the naming convention. This is the first evidence that distinctively racialized names existed long before the Civil Rights Era, establishing a new fact in the historical literature. We also provide evidence of long-term consequences of distinctively racialized names. Using over five million death certificates from Alabama, Illinois and North Carolina from 1908 to 1970, we find robust intraracial differences in mortality for those who had African American names. Having an African American name added more than one year of life relative to other African American males, on average. In elasticity terms, a distinctive African American name increased the lifespan by anywhere from 5 to 12 percent. We note how these findings reorient the narrative on community, welfare and family in the American past and also highlights the need to think critically about the dynamics of social change in the African American community before the Civil Rights Era.
For more information call 614-292-3922
This event is free and open to the public
Space is limited. Seats are available on a first come, first serve basis.
